


in late and glorious bloom

by vulpines



Series: so that I would wake up to this moment of love [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (altho tbh it's not really mentioned as a big deal so...), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, First Time, Fix-It, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of Virginity, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Rey-Centric, Safe to Read if You're Triggered by Pregnancy, Soft Ben Solo, basically TROS is semi-acknowledged as a thing but FIXED, minor angst (but not much!)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24187420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulpines/pseuds/vulpines
Summary: “How I should love just to be with you always like this, enjoying with one heart the moon or the blossoms and sharing observations on this passing world.”--(aka: Ben & Rey deserved a softer epilogue.)
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: so that I would wake up to this moment of love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1745680
Comments: 19
Kudos: 72





	in late and glorious bloom

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this before my last cracky fic but was just having a hard time working through the ending. Even though it's been 3 months since TROS & there's ample (way better!) fix-it fic out there ft. Naboo, a few smart friends told me it’s always good to have more food on the table. 
> 
> Anyways, I was heavily inspired by the sakura season, the desperate need for Ben & Rey to find soft happiness, & this sketch (https://twitter.com/lucia_rinkel/status/1239679408782430208?s=20) by @lucia_rinkel on twitter. Also thanks to Chase / nadesiko for our little fic completion pact the other day, the fanfic struggle squad gc on twitter for encouragement, & halle / @starcrossreylo for the pretty moodboard!

Nothing can compare to the softness in Ben’s face, the first thing Rey sees upon gasping back to life. The weariness in her bones, the questions that should have been forefront in her mind ( _Ben, where, how, why?_ )…all of it fades away in the brightness she feels illuminating from every pale inch of him. He’s so unguarded, the expression directed at her almost too unique to describe. It reminds her a bit of that time in the hut on Ahch-To, the way he focuses so singularly on her as if they’re the only two beings in existence. In a way, here, they are - but Rey never wants to think about the decaying body of evil they’ve just defeated. The past is dead (for now) and the future is _theirs_. 

It’s instinct which drives her to press her lips to his and the bond between them immediately s i n g s. Ben’s arms are an anchor around her torso, while she gets accustomed to those full, plush lips along with just a taste of his tongue and it doesn’t matter that they’re covered in dust, blood, and grime because _oh kriff_ t h i s is what they are meant to be, together by each other’s side after a year’s worth of miscommunication & nursing heartbroken fury.

Rey can’t stop beaming after they break apart for a breath…and the smile which blooms on Ben’s face ( _oh! his smile!_ ) is more stunning than any sunset, more breathtaking than any green planet she has ever seen since leaving Jakku.

When he collapses back, body growing colder by the second, Rey feels shock quickly followed by purpose and rage. _Mine, mine, mine!_ the darkness in her roars while the light begs _stay, please stay, oh let him live!_ She’s learned the Force isn’t something to be commanded, but how is this balance? Not now, not after they’ve both given up so much in their young lives for power and legacies neither of them had truly wanted.

Rey reaches out, her hand gripping his own, and tugs on the last remaining embers of Ben’s energy deep within. _He is mine and I am his, we two that are one._ She vows, channeling the state of mind she always had difficulty achieving when trying to contact Jedi spirits of old; except this time, there is something (someone) beneath her, a future promised in firelight once upon a time that now seems so close to actualization.

(And yes, the uncertain future of the galaxy matters more than just one man’s life but Rey-the-abandoned, Rey-the-scavenger...she’s done with waiting and ready to be more selfish. _Come back!_ She screamed once, a girl left in the desert, and she’ll scream again if she has to. A future without Ben Solo is one she doesn’t want to imagine.)

_Be with me. Be **with** me. **Be** with **me**._

Something, miraculously, catches spark; that fading ember warming back to a flame as phantom fingers of a princess-general- _Mother_ ghosting through her hair ( _be happy_ , it whispers) and Rey doesn’t question it, doesn’t second-guess because it’s Ben now who gasps and coughs, his solid chest heaving once more. Rey can’t tell if she’s laughing or crying (it’s both), every fiber of her being thankful, before bending down to rain more soft, brief kisses all over his wondrous, exhausted face.

It’s impossible to tell how long it takes them to make it up to the surface of Exegol, both battle-weary with Ben limping heavily on his one marginally-better leg and Rey (fueled only by adrenaline & sheer determination) making herself his crutch. The battle above them is nearly over, Resistance ships chasing the remaining First Order & Sith Star Destroyers as scavengers arrive to pluck the spoils. Upon sight of his uncle’s X-Wing next to his own TIE Fighter, Ben turns to her with a more reserved look, suddenly appearing older and more restrained.

“Where will you go?” His voice is delicate, torn between want & resignation. Bond or not, Rey can tell his thoughts turn towards an ending that is either death, life-imprisonment, or exile. Ben cannot allow himself to hope for more.

“Where will _**we**_ go.” Hers is deliberate, one hand reaching up to cup his jaw. Rey pushes resolve from her heart & mind to his. “You told me once before that I’d stand with you...and you were right. I’m here and I’m not letting you go, Ben.”

His head lowers, forehead dropping to press against hers as the bond hums between them. “Are you sure?” he poses, only barely reigning in a spark of hope. She’s silent, but her lips on his is a louder response than words could ever be.

—

Ben’s smile may be the most beautiful thing Rey’s seen but the Lake Country of Naboo is a close second. They’ve been settled here for a week after leaving the eerie Exegol and a brief few-day stint on Batuu (where they managed to find a med center to heal Ben’s broken leg & ribs). While Ben recovered in a bacta tank for two days, Rey had taken the opportunity to send a message to the Resistance, making sure to cover their tracks by mind-tricking those they’re forced to interact with.

“...We’ll see each other again, I believe that. May the Force be with you.” she ends the com, heartsick for the family & friends she had found in Finn, Chewie, Rose, & even Poe. Yet Rey is equally steady in her belief that this is for the best. With Leia gone, having spent the rest of her lingering life force to aid her only son, there’s no real certainty that whatever interim newly-sprung government would value the recipient of her sacrifice. 

She & Ben won’t hide away forever, but politics & world-building isn’t something she wants to dive into quite yet, if at all (especially with the dark addictive vision of them sharing the Sith Throne still recent in her mind). Ben silently agrees, his time as Supreme Leader not anything he wishes to repeat thankfully. What they need now is to heal…and sure, maybe Rey admits to being selfish for once, wanting more time to explore all the depths of what lies between them before the rest of the galaxy comes calling.

It’s Ben who offers up the Mid-Rim planet as an option, after emerging from the bacta tank steadier on his legs with only a small remaining limp. They’re sitting at the edge of a market, manipulating the Force so that they’re protected from the gaze of others as they snack on an assortment of things Rey’s never seen before. 

Ben’s unperturbed at the way she devours anything in sight, in fact initially a little awestruck and offering to buy her more of whatever she wants ( _thank R’iia he somehow still had access to a large amount of credits, whether First Order or Organa-Solo_ ). They debate about where to go next (he says no to any of the Core Worlds, which might still be teeming with First Order remnants; she refuses a lot of the other Outer Rim planets, worried about smugglers & potential bounty hunters). Staying on Batuu any longer than necessary is out of the question due to the latter, and it once being used as both a hub for Resistance & First Order sympathizers.

It’s Ben who asks what **she** wants, his brown eyes keen on her own. It’s not a question Rey is used to being asked - for her life so far has been concerned with day-to-day survival in misplaced waiting or (more recently) the focus on training towards a greater galactic good. She breathes in deeply and contemplates the possibilities, her right hand brushing up against his own underneath the tickety table. A little over a year ago, all Rey knew was the harsh desert world of Jakku ; she knows he’s spent the last several years mainly on cold, oppressive star destroyers serving under darker masters. They deserve the opposite of each, no matter how long it lasts. _Somewhere green, somewhere peaceful, somewhere safe, just for a little while._ It floats across the bond, and Ben’s gaze turns warm & thoughtful, like his mother’s. _Naboo_ , his voice echoes in her mind, _we’ll go to Naboo._

And oh, Naboo in the springtime is gorgeous. The city of Theed seemed thriving as they flew over, a celebratory energy permeating the air after the battle of Exegol. But Ben chooses to circumvent the busy capital in favor of a more secluded landscape, clear lakes surrounded by flowering fields and rolling hills occasionally dotted with pastel homes & herds of slow moving herbivores. They finally land on a smaller island in the midst of one of the larger lakes, Rey’s jaw dropping upon sight of the magnificent house jutting out as it’s grown from the surrounding greenery. ( _Castle?_ she wonders, but it’s so different than Maz’s - the only other one she’s ever seen. _A retreat_ , his gentle voice supplies in her mind helpfully, with just the barest touch of amusement).

After they’ve guided their small ship (“Borrowed!” “We _took_ it, Rey.”) from Batuu on the small landing strip hidden nearer to the water’s edge, Ben guides her up a staircase to what she presumes is an entrance. The property seems well-kept, if noticeably abandoned, with vines overgrowing on some of the jonquil walls.

So far Ben’s been calmer than she’s ever known him, in the days since bursting back to life. There’s a purpose ( _her?_ A part of her knows, awestruck) in each step which suits him better than any of the darker goals he might have thought he wanted before when masquerading as Kylo Ren. But when they arrive at the point of entering the system code to access the main property, his hand trembles; he types three letters ( _N, E, B_ ) followed by three numbers ( _3, 4, 2_ ), a complex cocktail of fear, guilt, & self-loathing echoing in the Force until the doors open and security system disarms before she can respond.

Ben had explained, while entering Naboo’s atmosphere, that his grandmother (a former queen!) had owned a property on the planet which ended up being passed onto his mother & uncle by extended relatives in her honor shortly after his birth. That should have tipped her off to the size and opulence she would soon be witness to, but…

“You said this was a retreat!” Rey’s torn between annoyance and giddiness, the young dreaming scavenger in her simultaneously disgruntled and awestruck that people in the galaxy could live like this (and that soon she will be too).

Ben’s mood perks up, suddenly a blend of sheepish pride that reminds Rey of both his parents. “You want to see the kitchen?” It’s phrased like less of a question, and something feral inside Rey purrs at the fact that he clearly knows her well enough even though there’s so much more to learn about each other.

After devouring some of the remnants of non-perishable food items scavenged from the colossal kitchen (including several small cups of shuura fruit-sauce laced with warming spices which Rey decides is now her new favorite thing to eat), they find their way to a wing containing several different bedrooms. 

It’s dusk and the last several days of fighting, death, emotional distress, and recovering are finally starting to hit Rey, her mouth opening in a large yawn. Ben’s force signature seems more guarded now, a fist clenching and unclenching lightly at his side as if contemplating the best way to retreat. If Rey wasn’t so tired she would laugh at this man, now acting more like a boy. Instead, she takes charge, grabbing his now clammy hand in hers to lead him into the first bedroom on their left. Luckily, the bed seems to be big enough for both of them and there’s a separate bathing area attached off to the left side, which Rey immediately moves to use. _Stay here_ , she warns him through the bond, and receives an assent back.

When she re-emerges, after refreshing herself with the small amount of supplies they’d gotten in Batuu, Ben has already changed into a grey undershirt and some sort of briefs. Rey lets her eyes linger on the defined muscles of his thighs. She’s more comfortable with viewing (& appreciating) his body now, especially given the few days he had to spend healing in the bacta tank on Batuu. However, the high of Ben’s cheekbones and the tips of his ears go a little pink, eyes wide as he takes in her basic nightwear (a duplicate of his own new shirt) and Rey abruptly realizes this is the least amount of clothing he’s ever seen her in.

“There - there are other bedrooms...I could...” he starts, and Rey knows he doesn’t really mean it but can feel that he’s not quite sure what to do either. Ben’s body language screams contradictions - both certain in desire yet still uncertain if it’s something he deserves. In response, she simply turns off the lamp on the side of the bed and gets under the covers, patting the space next to her. He follows her down onto the bed, stiff at first before she tangles their fingers together and brings them up to brush her lips against his knuckles. The bond thrums as his body loosens and he shifts to embrace her, still tentative but tender.

—

Rey wakes up in the early dawn alone. For the span of a few seconds, her heart nearly stops, thinking the last few days were all a dream - that Ben never came for her in Exegol, or that he did and she died and **he died** and left her, sacrificed that rare hard-won beautiful light for her and _it’s too much_ …

Her fear must reach him, because suddenly all she’s engulfed by his presence in the Force - understanding, gentle yet strong. _Don’t worry, dearest one, I’m here, I’m with you, come find me_ , it croons; her heart rate returning to normal as she leaves the bedroom.

Through their connection, a cord between both hearts, Rey is able to find him (she always has been, even in the year they were apart after Crait) and even though this property is still unfamiliar, it only takes about fifteen minutes for her to realize where he’s gone.

Just the barest hint of sun starts to emerge from the horizon, soon to slowly illuminate the main gallery (a colossal hallway made up entirely of massive windows along its length) in an effervescent coral haze as it meets the night sky. Rey’s experienced so much more now in the last year or so since bursting off of Jakku with Finn and BB-8, but she revels in the beauty of every new dawn. 

A different staircase ( _Force, there are so many!_ ) in a corridor off the end of the gallery leads her outside to what has to be...a large garden, open to the air yet surrounded by parts of the house. Her vision is overtaken with too many colors to name - dozens of shades of pink under her feet as she walks barefoot in the green grass towards a tall, broad figure standing underneath a massive tree. Ben’s hands are behind his back as he gazes out at a pond, more of the pink blossoms fluttering down around him from the branches above. “It’s a cherry tree,” he says, voice soft yet loud enough for her to hear as she nears. “The Gungans use the fruit to make a kind of sauce…” he trails off when she wraps her arms around his torso from behind, content to hold him for a few seconds. Rey hopes he can tell how fond she is of his tendency to focus on facts when he’s nervous.

But when Ben turns to face her, she can immediately tell something isn’t quite right. 

(One thing Rey’s less fond of? His tendency towards destruction & hopelessness when backed into a corner, of which she’s well aware.)

“You didn’t stay with me in bed.” She states the obvious, cautious and attempting to stop any minor irritation bleed out into the air. She guides him to sit on the ground beneath the cherry tree, before positioning herself between his massive legs to curl up on his lap.

“I couldn’t sleep for long...I’m not used to it.” He’s honest but focused on trying not to meet her eyes, instead looking out at the dark, still water of the pond. Rey feels her heart tug, recent memories of the cold sterile First Order quarters and older ones of a young boy’s constant nightmares flashing through their bond like lightning. (She has her own, reminded of those cold lonely nights living out of the Hellhound Two.)

“Ben -” she starts, exhausted before it can really begin. “Please, don’t.”

“Rey…” he pauses, trying to corral his thoughts and emotions into something more coherent. But, echoing the mental dance they did the first time they met, she pushes through any of his defenses, harnessing their bond not to attack but simply to comprehend.

Rey might understand him in so many ways (two halves of the same coin, equal in their opposites), but it’s difficult to fathom the amount of self-loathing Ben’s been carrying for longer than she realized. It’s heartbreakingly understandable, given the things he’s done and the things that have occurred to him. But he has to know...he has to realize the time for pushing each other away is at an end. Maybe Rey’s lucky in that she had a year between rejecting him on Crait and nearly killing him on Kef Bir to sit with her rage and objections; nothing will ever be worse than the feeling of having nearly lost him for true & she’s dedicated in her vow that she’ll be with him always. They’ve fought each other, took down Snoke, and faced Palpatine...these internal wounds, they too can face together.

She tries to convey all of that to him through their connection in a span of a few seconds, but Ben manages to overpower her in the Force. He breathes harshly, a thunderbolt in the otherwise quiet break of day, before everything bursts out.

“Rey, fuck...I’m the reason my entire family is dead! I don’t deserve this…Anyone who I love and who loved me, at some point, they’re gone because of me.” He gestures wildly, fist bruising some of the blossoms that had fallen on the ground, and she can see his mind racing; too quickly reaching the worst possible outcome. (Meanwhile a small portion of her brain is repeating: _anyone he loves anyone he **loves**_. Because of course she knew, but to **know** is a different thing.) 

Ben continues on: “And you...how long do you think we can stay here, Rey? What about your friends?? My own mother’s chosen cause! You deserve better than stolen moments in between being on the run with a war criminal…”

And at that Rey bares her teeth, livid in frustration at him and herself, because yes maybe she was naive in thinking things could be fine for the time being but Ben’s not even willing to let them _be_ for just a moment. (And she knows deep down that hope & happiness were feelings he long thought dead; things he saw an impossible dream. It makes her even sadder.)

“It’s not about what you think I deserve! If it was…then - then…” she interrupts frantically, letting that broken part of her own heart emerge to mix with his because if anyone can understand, it would be him. 

“Then you’re right. I did deserve better…a better family, definitely a better life than scraping by scavenging by myself for all those years! I was no one, just a child, and I had no one...And yes, you… **you** had the family I’d always dreamed of…” She can feel his guilt (& yes, spite too) spike, but pushes on, _kriff_ she has a point to make. 

“But those were childish dreams. And you deserved better too, Ben Solo.” Rey keeps a steady grip on one of his hands, fingers intertwined together, an anchor in the soft loam; the other cupping his jaw to ensure he stays and feels all of what she’s trying to convey with both words & her emotions in the Force. 

“I know you. I know you’ve done awful things. They won’t ever go away, and you’ll have to live with them; but neither will the fact that you were a child who didn’t deserve to be manipulated by terrible forces outside of your control.”

She pauses and takes a deep breath; her next words come easier than she ever thought they would. “I love you, Ben. Whether the Force willed it or not, I do. I tried to let you go after Crait & I failed; I’ll stand with you, whatever comes next. Can’t that be enough for now?” 

( _Aren’t I enough?_ The little desert girl begs.)

( _You’re nothing_ , says a past version of the man in front of her now, engulfed in crimson and flame.)

Ben catches the last memory, a hundred different emotions on his expressive face at once - wrecked and yearning and anxious and awestruck, yet some resolve is coming back too. _I never...I never thought..._ a part of his thoughts filter through the bond uncontrolled, and Rey _understands_ it so implicitly because the girl who waited on Jakku for over a decade would have never thought she could feel this way for another person beyond the idealized versions of her parents and have it be reciprocated too. They’re on another precipice again, like when he offered her his hand on the Supremacy only this time Rey hopes for a better outcome for them.

“I’m sorry.” says he who was Kylo Ren, and then Ben finally lowers his forehead down to hers, inhaling her in as he opens himself up fully in the bond. It feels like the dawn surrounding them, a slow thaw of the night yielding to day.

“You’re more than enough, Rey...you’re everything to me.” And his lips trace down her face, lingering briefly over her nose, her cheeks, and finally capture her own. This kiss is intimate; deeper and colored with so much of his own heart. “I was a fool then, and I can’t promise I’ll stop being one completely now. I just don’t want you to regret anything, not now.”

(She’s quick to whisper against his jaw: “Never.”)

“I’ve never been more certain of my purpose in life until I came for you in Exegol.” It’s Ben who says it, mumbling resolutely against her lips, but Rey feels like he could be plucking thoughts & feelings from her own spirit, because it’s as true for her as it is for him. The rush of exhilaration followed by peace & purpose that filled the bond when their eyes met in that cold blue abyss...Rey wants to chase that feeling for the rest of her life.

Ben knows too; he breaks away to gaze into her eyes unquestionably, dark amber meeting hazel-green. “I’ve always been...torn apart; uncertain. Couldn’t commit fully to the light or the dark...but I do know this - as long as I’m with you, I’m on the right path.” He says it like the most sacred of vows; bond & face open to her like flora in peak bloom. 

Rey knows there will be more conversations to come, more skeletons and ghosts living in the depths of their souls that they’ll need to confront in order to heal. But the time for words has passed; she’s calmer now, reassured and all-too-willing to relax further into Ben’s embrace and affection as cherry blossoms continue to rain upon them. 

It starts off slow, explorative; lazy & unrushed yet purposeful. While desire (for each other especially) is nothing new to either of them, both are novices to the art of love and have been content for now with soft touches. But Rey, still stretching & perched on his lap, feels a rare kind of heat; something she rarely let herself think too deeply about on certain nights when the bond would open up briefly since Crait. She knows her own body, if perfunctorily, but she’s eager now for him to learn and her to explore his in return. 

Ben’s still in his sleepwear as is she and as his tongue dips out to trace just underneath her jawline, Rey’s acutely aware of a throbbing warmth below and the brush of fabric against her hardening nipples. She shivers; it feels...good. But as Ben moves one of his massive hands around to span her lower back ( _Is that the cold?_ he wonders inside, _or is it me?_ ), Rey realizes she wants to feel them on _her_.

And so she pushes against his chest, breaking their bodies apart briefly to raise the oversized shirt above her head & flinging it into the grass behind her before she can think too deeply upon it. 

There are too many things about Ben in the time that she’s known him that Rey swears she’ll never forget; the silent hungry reverence on his face as he takes in her bare body for the first time will be something that stays with her. 

It’s Rey who makes the first move, guiding his right hand to cup just underneath her breast; it’s Ben who brings his thumb up to brush against her firm nipple causing her to gasp in the chilly morning air. She catches brief feelings in the bond ( _brave beautiful stubborn strong_ ) and preens inside at being this desired for all of her.

“Take off your shirt.” She commands darkly, now a creature of want. The thirst coursing through her veins is reminiscent of those heated desert days of old, but so much better. He obliges all too quickly, arms struggling to quickly divest himself of the garment and almost smacking her in the face. Rey laughs, lighter now, before pushing her breasts against his broad naked chest and kissing the blush off his face.

Ben sinks into it, tongue licking sensually inside her mouth as both his hands learn her body; she moans and rubs instinctively against his erection. From there it becomes a tender & lush game, a challenge where both can be the winners unlike any previous battles they’ve engaged in.

He groans heavily, heart nearly stopping, when she licks his palm before bringing it down to her mound; she whimpers, breaths hitching against his collarbone, when he finds her clit and finally gets the pressure _just_ right. (Rey gets him back, after rushing into orgasm from his fingers, wiping the smug awestruck grin off his face when the feeling of her hand around his leaking cock causes him to come preemptively.)

It helps, obviously with the bond - they’re able to anticipate certain actions and answer each other’s hesitant questions which might slow down progression. But of course, there’s still some awkwardness; getting used to a rhythm, this new push-and-pull with their bodies. Even after Ben recovers (during which he works her up using his fingers and _oh his tongue!_ ), it takes a few attempts for Rey to fully sink down onto his thick length, out of breath and almost too full.

Ben’s eyes are wild, flitting between the center where their bodies meet and Rey’s face. He keeps one hand on her hip and brushes the stray sweaty hairs back from her brow. _I’m okay,_ she reassures through the bond, before kissing him again and starting to move.

Rey is simultaneously aware and unaware of everything else around her. She catches glimpses of the tree branches above awash in rosy blossoms, detects the brush of the twilight hour Nabooan breeze against her lower back, and senses the Force through each living thing. But above all, she feels Ben.

Ben’s husky growls as she nips a love bite beneath his ear, hands spanning hot all over her body; the flex in his muscles as he surges up into her with each thrust. She’s devoured by him and she can feel that he’s equally overwhelmed by her.

( _brave beautiful stubborn strong my love my heart my l o v e_ )

They’re so intertwined - minds, bodies, and souls - that Rey can’t tell if Ben is really speaking it out or if it’s something deeper. He brings his thumb to rub lightly at her oversensitive clit once more and that plus the bombardment of worship in the bond brings her over the edge.

_Be with me, please!_ she demands in the bond, moaning and biting lightly into Ben’s shoulder as she trembles, vulnerable but confident in her claim of him. He thrusts into her twice more, hands at her lower back keeping her rooted to him, before groaning and emptying himself, warmth seeping out around where they meet.

_We could have been doing this over the last year,_ is the first thought in Rey’s mind when she comes back to herself. Ben’s breathing is still rugged beneath her ear, but she realizes she’d said it out loud when he barks a short laugh. The sound is so new to her, and full of affection, that she’s overcome with adoration, hugging his massive frame to her as close as she can even when his spent cock slips out of her and he maneuvers them down to the pink earth.

_This is what we’re meant to be_ , Rey is certain, basking in the afterglow & nuzzling into a broad chest as one of his arms wraps around her bare waist. Ben presses another kiss to the top of her head, whispers _I love you_ as a light sleep claims them both shortly; engulfed in the haze of morning twilight as the Force hums, in balance for a short while at last.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. The security code to get into the Varykino villa is based off of an activation code for BB-8 in a Poe Dameron comic - N(aboo), E(ndor), B(en) 342. I’m taking liberties here but it doesn’t seem like a stretch to assume this was something Leia might have come up with & used.  
> 2\. Cherries (/ cherry blossoms) in the GFFA? Potentially...I did come across this: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Gungan_hot_cherry_sauce. Not quite sure if it’s a spicy hot sauce or (like I assumed initially) some sort of warm fruity dessert sauce like you’d use on ice cream?  
> 3\. I just realized I didn’t really include any discussion of protection (stay safe y’all!) but Rey has a birth control implant.  
> 4\. Lastly I always feel super clunky with dialogue but I hope it worked here? I never actually intended to have them address some of their issues when I first started writing, it just sort of happened. (But also something I would prefer to explore further in a different fic as opposed to here.)


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